The Airplane Service Station, also known as the Powell Airplane, is a service station built in 1930 in the shape of an airplane.[2] Located at 6829 Clinton Highway in Powell, an unincorporated community in Knox County, Tennessee, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Airplane Service Station | |
 | |
   | |
| Location | 6829 Clinton Hwy Powell, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 36°0′26″N 84°1′52″W / 36.00722°N 84.03111°W |
| Built | 1930 |
| Architect | Wayne L. Smith, Elmer F. Nickle, Henry C. Nickle |
| Architectural style | Mimetic |
| NRHP reference No. | 04000198[1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 18, 2004 |
The station was built by brothers Elmer and Henry Nickle.[citation needed] Their intent was to increase business by having a service station that was visually unique, both to area residents and to travelers on newly widened U.S. Highway 25.[3] Elmer Nickle had a strong interest in airplanes,[3] and so the station was constructed in the Mimetic architectural style in the shape of an airplane.[4]
The structure ceased being used as a service station in the 1960s, when it became a liquor store. It has also been a produce stand, bait and tackle shop, a used car lot and a barber shop.[3] Knox Heritage and a local organization, the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association (AFSPA), are working to preserve the structure. [3]
See also edit
- Teapot Dome Service Station, 1922 Zillah, Washington station built in the shape of a teapot
- Shell Service Station, 1930 Winston-Salem, North Carolina station built in the shape of a scallop shell
References edit
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Plane-shaped gas station in Tennessee is classic 'roadside Americana'". National Trust for Historic Preservation. Retrieved March 28, 2019 – via USA Today.
- ^ a b c d Blackerby, Mike (May 7, 2018). "Iconic 'Airplane Filling Station' open again as barbershop". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
- ^ "National Register of Historical Places - Asset Detail". npgallery.nps.gov. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
External links edit
- Roadside America
- National Register of Historic Places
- Image gallery
- Airplane Service Station, c. 1931 — McClung Digital Collection